Modeling the supply chain: A fuzzy linear optimization approach

A supply chain is a network of suppliers, manufacturing plants, warehouses, and distribution channels organized to acquire raw materials, convert these raw materials to finished products, and distribute these products to customers. Linear Programming is a wide used technique to optimize Supply Chain decisions. In the crisp case, every parameter value is certain whereas in real life, the data is rather fuzzy than crisp. The fuzzy set theory has the capability of modeling the problems with vague information. In this paper, a fuzzy optimization model for supply chain problems will be developed under vague information. A numerical example will be given to show the usability of the fuzzy model.